P2B reintegration fund for returning OFWs

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) has assured repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that they can avail of financial assistance as part of their reintegration program, and even may avail of jobs or loan assistance from the government.

According to POEA Administrator Carlos Cao Jr., OFWs may avail of the assistance through the government’s P2-billion reintegration fund, with local employment and business opportunities among the compotents of the program.

“By way of this P2-billion reintegration fund, they can apply for business loans ranging from P300,000 to P2 million for as long as they are willing to be guided by the Land Bank of the Philippines. This is collateral-free. Interest is 7.5 percent per annum, but it must be guided so the business will be viable,” the POEA official said in a statement on Thursday.

The program is also targeted at OFWs who may be affected by the deployment ban to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as repatriates who have returned home amid continued political unrest in Syria.
The POEA has revisited its deployment ban in Iraq and Afghanistan after a security agreement between them and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and decided to partially lift it, excluding OFWs working in US military installations.

Cao reiterated that OFWs in the two countries could finish their contracts and remain there if there would be an extension or renewal of their contracts.

“But the partial lifting is only good for US camps and facilities . . . I think we can trust the assessment made by the DFA here. Definitely, they’re safer inside US installation facilities and camps,” he said.

Meanwhile, Japan is said to be seeking 500 Filipino nurses and caregivers under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.

According to the Budget Department, the government itself has tens of thousands of job openings with plans to recruit new nurses and teachers, among others.

Syria expenses

On the matter of OFWs from Syria, at least P210,000 worth of taxpayers’ money is being spent by the government to repatriate the Filipinos who are not documented in that strife-torn country, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario also said on Thursday.

He added that the repatriation of Filipinos from Syria to Manila had been slow because most of the OFWs in that country were undocumented, which required the government to buy out the contracts of OFWs from Syrian employers and at least shoulder deployment costs the latter incurred for hiring the undocumented workers.

There are about 17,000 OFWs in Syria. Of that number, 90 percent are household service workers (HSWs). Del Rosario said that 95 percent of these HSWs were undocumented.

“It is a very tedious negotiating process just to repatriate one household service worker. We think that each undocumented OFW will cost us between $5,000 to $6,000 per head [for repatriation],” he told reporters after the House of Representatives approved the P10.98 billion proposed budget for the DFA yesterday.

When converted to Philippine pesos, $5,000 amounts to P210,000 while $6,000 equates to P252,000.

“Because most of our people are undocumented, we also have penalties that must be settled with Immigration [authority],” del Rosario said.

As of Thursday, he disclosed that only 800 out of the 17,000 OFWs in Syria have asked to be repatriated. Out of the 800, at least 40 have safely returned to the Philippines.

“I don’t expect that number to increase in a dramatic way unless the violence [in Syria] escalates further,” he said. –RAFFY AYENG CORRESPONDENT WITH REPORT FROM LLANESCA T. PANTI, Manila Times